tomlin will talk all the football you want, but dont bother with crap such as the turf, altitude, wafting cirrus clouds, or the forecast. tomlin just laughed at the reporter wanting to know about mile high grass.

Playing against the Denver Broncos, who have been in more close games than the Steelers:

"If there's anything that concerns you at this point in the week, this team has been in more rubber-meets-the-road moments than we have. They probably have a better sense of how to deal with adversity than we do. It's a challenge we're going to have to face."

The Steelers' not getting the national attention that teams like the unbeaten Patriots and Colts have:

"We don't worry about the variables that don't matter, whether we're flying above the radar, under the radar or who's doing what. We focus on the things that we can control, and that's our preparation. If we're as good as maybe we think we are we'll run across some of those teams at some point."

Players like fullback Dan Kreider, who don't start but are valuable to the Steelers:

"We have quite a few guys, specifically offensively, that may not be listed as starters but have significant roles in what we do: Dan, Najeh (Davenport), (Matt) Spaeth, (Jerame) Tuman, Nate Washington, Cedrick Wilson. We've got to be able to spread the ball around, we've got to be able to use multiple personnel groups, we've always got to be ready to call on men in their area of expertise, and Dan is always ready to do that."

Cornerback Ike Taylor and his stellar play through the Steelers' first five games:

"He has not ridden the emotional roller coaster this year. He prepares. He goes out and performs, and he's playing at a high level. He has a desire to be great. I still think his best football's ahead of him."

"We don't worry about the variables that don't matter, whether we're flying above the radar, under the radar or who's doing what. We focus on the things that we can control, and that's our preparation. If we're as good as maybe we think we are we'll run across some of those teams at some point."